Bob Melvin made sure he got the most out of a short workday.
The Giants manager unloaded on home plate umpire Stu Scheurwater after he was ejected for arguing a horrendous strikeout call during a matinee road game against the Nationals on Thursday.
Scheurwater rung up Mark Canha on a pitch so far off the plate it may as well have been in Baltimore and then ejected Melvin for chirping, which ticked off the skipper.
“Come on, that’s f–king bulls–t to throw me out of the game,” Melvin said on a hot mic. “That’s bulls–t to throw me out of the game.
“Make a decent call. Make a decent call.”
Managers are not supposed to argue balls and strikes, even for calls as egregious as this one, but there’s usually a little leash allowed when a noticeable error is made.
Scheurwater did not afford Melvin that opportunity after he rung up Canha on a 2-2 pitch from lefty DJ Herz that clearly missed high and outside with the bases loaded in a scoreless game.
Even Canha, known for being one of the kindest players in the sport, turned to Scheurwater and questioned the ruling.
“Oh my goodness, come on,” said one of the Giants broadcasters on NBC Bay Area. “That’s not a strike, that’s not close to a strike.”
The hot mic picked up Scheurwater telling Melvin, “Hey Bob, I heard ya” while Melvin screamed from the dugout, “Let’s go. Bear down. Terrible.”
Melvin then got the boot and left his post to confront the umpire, who continued to say he had told Melvin to quiet down.
“I was looking right at you and I told you,” Scheurwater said.
Melvin replied: “I don’t hear you. I’m standing up for my player. You think I can hear ya?”
Scheurwater kept maintaining he had told Melvin he heard his qualms with the call, before Melvin dropped the profanity-filled response.
“Bob Melvin just got kicked out of the game and I don’t blame him,” one of the Giants broadcasters said prior to the on-field conversastion.
The Giants ultimately scored a run when the following batter walked, but they were surely hoping for more while they battle for a playoff spot.
San Francisco entered the day 3 1/2 games behind the Braves for the third and final wild card spot and can’t afford to drop games to bottom-feeders like the Nationals.
“That’s a call from an umpire that can change a whole game,” one of the NBC announcers said. “At no point was that a strike, you had a guy spraying it all over the planet and then you ring a guy up on that pitch and toss the manager on top of it?”
His partner chipped in: “If you make that call, you gotta wear (it).”